UN Describes 2022 as ‘Deadliest Year’ in West Bank Since 2006

An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)
An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)
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UN Describes 2022 as ‘Deadliest Year’ in West Bank Since 2006

An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)
An Israeli soldier at one of the main entrances to Nablus in the West Bank (EPA)

The UN described 2022 as the "deadliest year since 2006" in the West Bank due to the continuous increase in violence.

The UN Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Lucia Elmi, said that with the killing of at least 105 Palestinians, including 26 children, by the Israeli forces, 2022 has been the deadliest year since 2006, on a monthly average, for Palestinians residing in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The UN statement documented a 57 percent increase in the monthly average of Palestinian fatalities compared to last year.

The coordinator said that since October, 15 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed by the occupation forces in search-and-arrest operations, exchange of fire, or in confrontations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, often following settler attacks or incursions into Palestinian villages.

The UN official ruled out that the victims posed a concrete or imminent threat to justify lethal force, raising concerns about the excessive use of force.

Elmi emphasized that the United Nations is concerned about increasing movement restrictions. Earlier this month, after two Israeli soldiers were shot and killed at checkpoints in Nablus and East Jerusalem, Israeli forces imposed extensive movement restrictions, limiting access of many to health care, education, and livelihoods.

"In Shu'fat refugee camp, these restrictions have largely been lifted, but they remain in place in Nablus. Huwwara, one of Nablus city's only access points, has also seen an increase in the severity and frequency of settler violence."

On Wednesday, the Israeli forces continued its blockade on Nablus for the ninth day, aiming to deter a new armed group in the city known as the "Aren al-Usud" group, which Israel accuses of being responsible for shootings around the city in the past few weeks.

Israel imposed a tight siege on Nablus, and the Israeli army tightened its grip on the main Hawara checkpoint while continuing to close other checkpoints, such as Deir Sharaf.

Israel targets Nablus and Jenin, in the northern West Bank, as a center of activity for Palestinians who carry out operations in Israel. It carries out frequent incursions into the cities, killing the most significant number of Palestinians there this year.

Israel killed 172 in all Palestinian territories this year, including 121 in the West Bank and 51 in the Gaza Strip, and injured over 800, including severe injuries to the head and chest.



UN: Nearly 70% of Verified Gaza War Dead Are Women and Children

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
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UN: Nearly 70% of Verified Gaza War Dead Are Women and Children

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70% of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN tally since the start of the war, in which Israel's military is fighting Hamas militants, includes only fatalities it has managed to verify with three sources, and counting continues.

The 8,119 victims verified is a much lower number than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the 13-month-old war. But the UN breakdown of the victims' age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.

This finding indicates "a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality," the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.

"It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment on the report's findings.

"Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law," Turk said in a statement.

"Tragically, these documented patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the war."

His office found that about 80 percent of all the verified deaths in Gaza had occurred in Israeli attacks on residential buildings or similar housing, and that close to 90 percent had died in incidents that killed five or more people.